I’ve waited a long time to be a stockist of Harbeth, but new that when I finally became one, I wanted to do it properly.
Built upon the expertise Founder H.D Harwood learned from a career with the BBC’s research department, Harbeth was created to commercialise the BBC loudspeaker technology, and to bring a new level of loudspeakers into people’s homes.
Often when we’re listening to loudspeakers that produce sharp, or aggressive audio, we notice it mostly in the vocals, or spoken words. This is because as humans who use our voices in speech every day, we know what a voice sounds like, and we notice immediately if any artificial interference is involved. Harbeth recognises this disconnect between the spoken voice, and an audio reproduction, and in an effort to eliminate this, uses vocals as a reference point when tuning their loudspeakers.
The result is a warm, powerful, speaker with stunning musicality. Harbeth speakers stand out against many other Hi-Fi speakers, because they don’t directly compete in any particular space. Instead, Harbeth only has one focus: creating speakers that produce a sound that is true to the original source.
To match their beautiful sound, Harberth loudspeakers look beautiful too. With handmade cabinets that are finished with the finest veneers, a pair of Harbeth loudspeakers have a timeless design that will continue to remain classic and sophisticated.
Their most notable speaker, the SHL5plus XD is the model catapulted the Harbeth brand into what it is today. The SHL5plus XD loudspeaker is affectionately referred to as the ultimate British domestic speaker, taking Harbeth’s values of perfect audio reproduction to another level.
The SHL5plus XD gets the very best from the Harbeth-made 200mm RADIAL2™ bass/mid driver in a cabinet that is skilfully designed according to the pioneering research undertaken by the BBC. The system sound is large, powerful and transparent with an astonishing freshness.
There’s so much I love about Harbeth, from the fascinating history of the brand, the gorgeous design of their loudspeakers, but it’s the musicality that really does it for me. The top end is beautiful, and the bass is powerful. Knowing that these speakers are constructed with vocals as a reference point, I put them to the test with some Adele over the weekend. It’s hard to describe how the speakers made me feel because I didn’t feel like I was listening to any. Instead, I felt as if Adele was singing right in front of me.
If you’re looking for a classic, timeless speaker that stands apart from the rest of your Hi-Fi, contact me for a demonstration of my full range of Harbeth loudspeakers.
